


A Gift On The Way

by Ten



Category: Saints Row
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-08
Updated: 2014-09-08
Packaged: 2018-02-16 09:53:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2265312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ten/pseuds/Ten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was written as a series of single drabbles over the course of ~2 weeks. It is part of the Bossville Continuity.</p>
    </blockquote>





	1. Day 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as a series of single drabbles over the course of ~2 weeks. It is part of the Bossville Continuity.

"Alright love, done quelling that rebellion. What's so urgent then?"

Kinzie looked up from her screen, giving her Boss and the suspicious yellow stains splattering his 'armour' a brief look, then waved him over. "CID has noticed some unusual energy readings at the Safeword. In the basement, specifically."

Mer raised his eyebrow. "We cleaned up the basement, you said it was clear of any aftereffects."

"This doesn't... quite read the same as Eris's rifts."

"Quite?"

"Well, it's similar enough that I would identify it as a rift, but it's not her normal signature. It's also not the same kind of rift as our Bossville one."

"Soooo you're saying I should go check it out."

"There is nothing visible on the cameras, but if you could go take some local readings-" She handed him a gadget that looked a little like a Geiger counter (or so he thought), "I could probably find out more."

"Alright, sure. When?"

"Right now. The energy levels keep rising, so I'd rather not wait."

"Can I put on something clean first?"

Kinzie gave him a look, and Mer raised his hands in defeat, then turned to trudge off to Bossville.

* * *

The Safeword's basement was quiet and clean, as it should be. Meredith had walked through it for the last ten minutes without finding anything but a lone spider in a corner, and while the gadget was displaying some sort of numbers, they were continuously moving up and down and Mer had no bloody clue if that meant anything at all.

He was just going to call it an evening and return to the ship, when something in the corner of his eyes caught his attention. It was only a vague flicker, like a bug flying by at the edge of your vision, and Mer half expected that maybe the spider wasn't alone after all, but then it happened again.  
It had roughly come from behind one of the pillars, but when Mer wandered closer, he couldn't see anything but plain grey cement. Except when he turned into a different direction. There it was again. As if it was only visible when looking at it askance.  
Mer felt a little silly walking toward it while tilting his head the other way, but it seemed to work. And the numbers in the gadget seemed to move faster, too. And the closer he got, the more he could feel a sort of tension in the air, making his fine hairs stand up. He was sure he was close now, he could practically taste it-

And then there was nothing under his feet, even though he could see the cement right there, and before he could so much as spit out a "Fuck me", he fell.

For a second, the floor flickered where he had disappeared in it, then the basement lay silent again.

* * *

"Huh." Kinzie leaned up. "The readings are gone."

"Gone?" CID floated over. "... you're right." He connected to the Safeword system. "Boss, the energy readings have disappeared. ... Boss? Boss are you there?"

They both listened to the silence for a moment, then Kinzie frowned. "Something must have happened."

"I'll go check it out." CID whirled around to float out of the room.

He had been in Bossville before, though never beyond the Safeword's 4th floor. Shame he didn't have time to check the place out.  
Luckily for CID, his system had elevator control. but the basement only had low-tech door access. He had to order one of the staff to open it for him, which earned very confused looks. Must have been a Bossville resident.  
He was still floating down the stairs, when Kinzie contacted him again. "CID, the readings just spiked again-"  
There was a dull thud from the basement, accompanied by a grunt, and followed by a groan. CID floated faster.  
"- aaand it's gone."

"I'm nearly there, Kinzie. I think-" He turned the corner and immediately spied his Boss sprawled on the floor, rubbing his head with a pained noise. "Got him!"

* * *

One of the Safeword's Bodyguards had helped Meredith to the rift, and now he was sitting in the medical bay, with Dr. Maina checking him over, and half his crew hovering nearby.

"And you have no idea what happened in between you noticing the anomaly and CID finding you?"

"I told you Kinzie, I haven't the faintest!" Mer twitched when the doc cleaned one of the cuts on his leg.

"Well, you didn't have those injuries when we came back from alien punching." Johnny frowned. "All you had were some bruises."

"Yeah, I get that, but I swear, it went right from 'what the fuck is this' to 'oh god everything hurts and I wanna hurl'." Meredith was starting to feel annoyed, and it must have shown, because even Johnny raised his hands and stepped back.

"For now, your physical health is of primary concern." Asha straightened and started nudging everyone toward the door. Dr. Maina gave her an approving nod.

"Okay, okay, but once you had some rest, we gotta find out what happened!" Kinzie called, before she was ushered out.

Mer just sighed in relief at the blessed quiet that followed.

 

 


	2. Day 7

"Hey Jack, what's up?" Even while he said it, Meredith already had a niggling feeling in his stomach that he knew the answer. The pause at the other end of the line proved him right.

"I was just getting ready for a shower."

"Sooo you're-"

"Undressing, yeah. Just like the last five times you called me. How do you _do_ that?"

"I'm not doing anything! Just felt like calling you up all of a sudden. I swear, it's not Kinzie watching or anything."

"Yeah, I believe ya. Still, that's some ridiculous coincidences."

"You tell me... I've been texting Yuri a couple times while he was naked recently, too..."

"No kiddin'." Jack laughed. "Are you developing a sixth sense for nakedness?"

"Mmm, my nekkie senses are tingling."

"... tingling."

"It's a pop culture reference. Look up spidey sense sometime."

"... I feel like Matt mentioned something like this once... anyway, did you call just to know I'm about to be naked, or-"

Mer chuckled. "I guess? But now that I did... I've got something to take care of, but after that, wanna raid Bossville for a new car with me? My garage could use a bit more variety."

"Sure, sounds good!"

"I'll see you in about an hour then."

* * *

"And nothing has changed? No pains, no eyesight problems..."

"I swear doc, it's just as always when I'm not wearing the contacts." Meredith said patiently, even though it was not the first time he did.

Dr. Maina narrowed her eyes. "Peculiar. You should be blind without a visible iris or pupil, but instead... you should be more worried about this, you know."

"Why? I always wanted them this way!"

"But you don't know _why_ they are this way."

"Listen doc, I've seen so much shit, I've stopped questioning things as long as they work. And I promise I'll come to you if they stop working."

"Alright, fine." She stepped back with a sigh, and watched Meredith get up.

"Thanks for your concern! Take a day off sometime!" He waved and hurried out. There was still time for a second lunch before meeting Jack.


	3. Interlude: Dreams

They are not nightmares, but his dreams are leaving him restless recently. Or maybe, as he becomes increasingly convinced, it's only one dream, and he just remembers random fragments in the morning.

Sometimes he remembers a battle, getting tackled by someone, no, a group of someones. There are claws, he thinks, and the freshly healed cut on his leg itches when he wakes up. There are snarls and growls. But not animals, that much he knows.

Sometimes he remembers gentler touches. Caresses, kisses, licks. He remembers being aroused, and at the same time wary.

(Sometimes, he remembers being scared, but he pushes that memory away quickly.)

And more and more often, there is a face, a woman?, with eyes like liquid tar, and a voice he feels on his skin, under his skin. She touches him, and it hurts so pleasantly.

He doesn't recall what she is saying. There are vague impressions of interest, of predatory respect, and of amusement.

The only actual word he can remember after nearly two weeks is _gift_.


	4. Day 14

"Boss, what the hell is going on, you stumbled through that speech like an awkward teenager."

"I know." Mer also stumbled as they walked to the transport that would return them to the Mothership. "Sorry."

Pierce took a step closer. "What's wrong? And don't tell me it's nothing again."

"No, I just... I'm so _hungry_. And everything aches."

Asha frowned. "You've been eating constantly in the last couple days."

"Yeah, and I feel sick from it, but at the same time, I feel like I'm going to starve." Meredith pressed the heel of his hand to his temple.

"Alright, Boss, you're going right back to the doc when we're back on the Lily. You're obviously sick."

Mer didn't even argue that, and Asha and Ben exchanged worried glances.

* * *

"You said you have aches, can you describe the pain?" Dr. Maina checked over the x-rays for a second time, just to be sure.

"It's kinda... dull throbbing. And my skin feels tense. Like a bruise."

"I couldn't find any swelling anywhere, and your bones look just fine." The doc leaned back and turned her chair around. "I'll be honest with you, you seem to be as healthy as ever. If not more so. Judging from my lab results, you are at the peak of your health since I've known you. ... which is strange in and of itself."

Mer eyed her. "I'm not that old..."

She raised her eyebrows. "Meredith, in the last week, you have eaten more than you normally do in two yet you claim you are starving, you are in pain, and you can't properly focus for longer than ten minutes at a time. Your reports should have red all over them."

"Hey, I can fo-" The Boss of the Saints trailed off and tilted his head to the side.

Dr. Maina frowned. "Meredith? MEREDITH."

"What? Oh. Sorry, I thought I... noticed something..."

"Like you have been the last couple days, according to the crew. And yet you can't even tell us if it's something you heard, or saw, or smelled..."

"No, just... noticed." Mer shook his head, and turned his gaze back to her. But only for a moment, then it started wandering again.

"Alright, you are clearly distracted." The doctor stood and gently touched Mer's elbow. He practically jumped.

"Mer." Her voice was uncharacteristically soft as she used the old nickname she hadn't used with him since he was ten. "Something is very wrong with you, but it's nothing my medicine can detect. And that's not even accounting for your eyes."

Meredith looked alarmed. "You didn't tell anyone, right?"

"I promised I won't, but only because you said you had no problems with them."

"I don't. I still don't. My eyes feel better than the rest of me."

"Well, the rest of you matters a lot. If this is something alien, you will need to find an alien to help you. There are Zin medics on board."

"You know my stance on that. I can't afford to show them weakness."

"And we can't afford to show them your corpse if you die of some sort of alien virus."

"... okay. I will talk to them."

"Thank you, Meredith."


	5. The End Of The Beginning

The Zin medical facilities looked surprisingly similar to their own. Then again, the Zin _were_ humanoid...

Still, Mer was this close to just getting up and leaving any second. There we just enough tools and drugs he had never seen before in the cabinets to make him feel like he was walking blindfolded into enemy territory.

And the Zin doctor(?) made his stomach knot up, even though he (she? He still couldn't tell) was just as subservient and ardent as Zinjai.

"Your doctor sent me a lot of data on human physiology." The Zin's voice was very soft, so with nothing else to go on, Mer settled on 'she' in his mind. He was going to have to ask her later, when she was done prodding him curiously.  
"We don't know of any disease that would cause all of your symptoms at the same time, but there are a few possibilities for some of them." she continued and adjusted her light to look at his eyes again. "Except this. You are absolutely sure humans can't change their eyes with age?"

"I told you, the only thing that can happen without being damage is a change in the iris colour."

"Hmm hmm, fascinating. I have to tell you, your Highness, they are quite beautiful this way!"

"Not arguing that. And I really am more concerned with the pain..."

"Yes. Fingers, feet, back, head. But not your joints. There are fungi that grow under the skin and can cause extreme pain, but they also discolour the skin visibly. Of course, your skin is very different from what we're used to."

She grabbed his wrist, and for a moment, he was ready to kick her across the room, but then he forced himself to relax. She was just turning his hand so she could check his skin.

"Does it hurt when I apply pressure?"

"Yes." Meredith winced. The dull throbbing ache was starting to become more distracting than his hunger.

"I'll be careful." She checked his other hand as well, then nudged his jaw up.

Mer squinted when her lamp blinded him at this angle. "Okay, this really hurts."

"It won't hurt for long." she said calmly.

Everything inside him coiled with a sense of wrongness for a moment, but before he could react, there was a sharp pressure across his throat, followed by hot wetness welling up. _FUCK_ his brain supplied, and his body finally acted, a kick to her stomach hurling her away from him. He half jumped half fell off the examination table, pressing a hand to his throat. He could feel his strength running through his fingers, his breaths hardly reaching his lungs. His vision was already blurring. A shrill sound was blaring up, probably an alert the Lily had triggered, but he could barely hear it over the rushing noise in his ears.

_Wounded. Have to heal._

Meredith stumbled toward the Zin who had pulled herself up. He didn't know if she planned to attack him again or flee. It didn't matter. She was available.

_Heal. Feed._

He reached for her with his other hand. She moved as if to lunge, but then froze. Their eyes met, and her breath slowed for a moment. Then she moved toward him, dropping the bloodied scalpel she had been clutching. The small steel tool hit the ground with a sharp, metallic sound, just as he grabbed her shoulder.

And the pain exploded.

* * *

Zin guards stormed the room, Johnny and Asha with them. The two Saints had been lingering nearby at Mer's request, so they knew to expect foul play from the Zin doctor.

What they hadn't expected was their Boss buckled over on the ground, making gargled pained noises, blood running in thin rivulets from where skin had parted and stretched beyond its normal limits to accommodate bodyparts that by all rights shouldn't be there.

Johnny was mostly stunned by the heavy leathery wings, but Asha's gaze was trained for different priorities. It took only a brief moment for her to see the blood pooling on the ground under his throat and face.

She could worry about the glimpse of what was undeniably horns and claws later. "Throat injury!" she barked and darted forward.

Her words spurred Johnny into action as well, and he pushed the confused guard next to him forward. "Get her!" he pointed at the Zin doctor who was still staring unmoving down at Meredith, then he hurried to his Boss's side as well.

"Boss!" Asha slid to her knees and grabbed his shoulders to get a look at him. She allowed herself a wince at the sight of the deep cut across his throat, but he was also bleeding from his mouth, very likely an injury caused by the long sharp fangs he had definitely never had before. Unbidden, the thought _Matt is going to freak_ flashed across her mind, then Johnny was at her side.

"Shit! Get the doc!" Johnny yelled at the ship, or rather the AI maintaining it, then tore off his jacket, then his shirt to turn it into a makeshift bandage for Mer's throat. "Hold on, Boss! Asha, gimme a hand!"

But Asha didn't answer. Johnny looked up to find her staring at Meredith, much like that Zin did, an expression of transfixed awe on her face. The Boss shifted a clawed hand to clutch her thigh, and she moaned.

She fucking _moaned_.

"What the hell! Asha, the fuck are you- Mer, hold still!"

Meredith turned his head toward Johnny, and suddenly, the ~~panic~~ irritation Gat felt was gone. For a moment, it was replaced by complete calm, then something else rushed through him, hot and overwhelming, and so sudden that his brain needed a moment to catch up with the sensation and inform him that he had never before _wanted_ Mer so badly in his entire life.

* * *

Dr. Maina carefully tucked the blanket around Mer's shoulders as good as possible, then leaned up to meet the worried gazes of most of the Inner Crew. "As I remarked earlier, he is healing rapidly. His tongue is already completely reattached, and his throat injury is knitting. I estimate that he will have recovered from the injuries and bloodloss in two to three hours."

Shaundi frowned. "But what about the... this... _this_." She vaguely gestured at the sleeping Boss's wings and the thick tail that the blanket couldn't cover.

"From what I can tell, all his... appendages are healthy and functional. His skin was obviously torn when they appeared, but there is no more sign of it now. If I wouldn't know better, I would assume he always had them."

"But he _didn't_. Doesn't that kind of worry you?!"

The doctor gave Shaundi an indignant frown. "Of course it does. But the fact of the matter is that I have no idea why this happened, how it happened, or what to do about it. All I do know is that they are not a threat to his health. And that's my priority."

"Ugnf." Johnny added from his bed, getting the group's attention.

"Hey man, welcome back." Pierce sounded cheerful as always, but the quietness of his voice betrayed his worry. "How you feelin'?"

"Like my body's made of wet sand." Gat muttered groggily, then blinked a few times. "... Boss?!"

"He's alright now." Dr. Maina sat down at Johnny's bedside. "He's sleeping in the other bed, and over there is Asha." She nodded to the third occupied bed. "You'll all recover."

Johnny marginally relaxed. "... fuck, what a trip."

"What happened, Johnny?" Shaundi shouldered Pierce aside to sit down on the edge of the bed. "We found you three and a bunch of Zin unconscious, and Mer... he's got..."

"Aw shit, it really happened?" Johnny turned his head to look past Dr. Maina at the prone form on the other bed. "... shit," he repeated. "It's... it was... this sounds fucking crazy."

"As crazy as our Boss sprouting wings?" Viola's tone was dry and a little impatient. She hated not knowing important details.

"Fuck yeah." Johnny took a sip of water the doc offered him, then frowned to remember. "Boss got attacked by that Zin doctor. Bitch cut his throat. We come barging in, and he's on the floor, covered in blood and all new parts. Asha and I try to take care of his throat and then he just-" The Saint faltered.  
"He looked at us and all of a sudden all I could think was that I really wanna-"

"Want to what?" Yep, Viola was definitely impatient.

Shaundi frowned. Johnny had never been at a loss for words before.

"... fuck him." Johnny finished with a squint, and stunned silence fell over the room.

"Are you fucking serious?!" Shaundi finally interrupted it.

"Listen, I know it sounds crazy, completely ridiculous, but it was like... like being punched in the gut by hornyness. Shit, you know me, I don't get distracted by a hard-on! But right then... there was nothing else."

Shaundi was looking increasingly irritated, but Kinzie, with her tried and true bluntness, stopped any possible outburst in its tracks. "So did you? Because the Boss wasn't exactly clothed anymore when we found you."

Johnny frowned. "I... " There was a long pause. He looked uncomfortable. "I remember getting off..." he eventually continued, eyes narrowed. "I remember kissing him. And suddenly feeling really tired."

Shaundi jumped up. "You gotta be joking! You _got off_?! While Mer was bleeding to death?!"

Johnny winced. "I'm telling you, I had no control over it. All I know is that it felt like he wanted me to. Like he _needed_ me to."

Before Shaundi could get even angrier, Oleg calmly interrupted. "What about the Zin guards? They were in a similar state to you and Asha. None of them woke up yet."

"Fuck, I'm not sure. I think... I think at some point, the Boss turned away from Asha and me and to the Zin. But I was already nearly out then, I don't remember the rest."

"Interesting." Kinzie remarked thoughtfully.


	6. Epilogue: Awakening

_He has been fighting them for what feels like hours, creatures with leathery wings and sharp claws. They look humanoid, but he's pretty sure they are not. Every now and then, one gets close to him, and when their eyes meet, a sensation of calm washes over him, followed by sharp, burning desire. More than once he drops his defenses, wanting nothing more than to surrender himself to the sweet sweet pleasure waiting in the creature's arms, but each time, his survival instinct wins out just barely and he manages to jump away before sharp fangs can find his throat._

_And then, just when he feels exhausted enough to consider that he might not win, long arms wrap around him (how could he not notice it approaching), and an indescribable voice slides over him. "It's been a long time since I have seen a mortal last against us so long." She moves around to face him, and while he gets lost in her eyes, the others back off. "To resist us like this." She licks her lips, and for a second, he wishes he could do it for her. And she_ knows _. She smiles, he thinks. "The more someone is in control of their sexuality, the harder it is for us to take that control away. You, you are so_ good _, for a human. I like you. I am going to let you go. And I will even give you a gift on the way. Enjoy your new life. One day, we'll play."_

He wakes slowly, and his crew is there to welcome him back. He can see relief in their face, and a strange discomfort he can't place until he tries to talk and feels his tongue press against slender fangs.

A gift on the way.


End file.
